Mountains of discarded computers and mobile phones could soon pose serious threats to public health and the environment in developing countries without swift action, the UN said on Monday.
“Sales of electronic products in countries like China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set to rise sharply in the next 10 years,” the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report.
“And unless action is stepped up to properly collect and recycle materials, many developing countries face the spectre of hazardous ewaste mountains with serious consequences for the environment and public health.”
The report entitled ‘Recycling — from E-Waste to Resources’ was released at a meeting of Basel Convention and other world chemical authorities prior to UNEP’s Governing Council meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
It used data from 11 developing countries to estimate current and future ewaste generation such as desk and laptop computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, digital photo and music devices, refrigerators, toys and televisions.
By 2020 ewaste from old computers in South Africa and China will have jumped by 200 to 400% from 2007 levels, and by 500% in India, it said. Waste from discarded mobile phones would be seven times higher in China and 18 times higher in India by the same year.
China already produces an estimated 2.3 million tonnes of e-waste, second only to the United States with about three million tonnes, the report said.